Sanders' last 'Medicare for all' plan cost almost $1.4 trillion

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker announced this week that he will sign on as a co-sponsor to a bill that would extend Medicare to all Americans, a move that will put him in the company of some of the most high-profile Democrats in the Senate: Sens. "You should not be punished because you are working class or poor and be denied healthcare. I think health care should be a right to all", Booker said in the interview. "This is something that's got to happen".

"[Democrats are] fighting for health care as a right for all, and not a privilege for a few." he said. In doing so, he joined Sens. Tom Price weighed in on whether the bill has a chance of passing, telling the FOX Business Network's Dagen McDowell on Mornings with Maria, "Well, I would hope not".

The conservative Democrat, up for reelection in 2018, said his priority is finding a system that best addresses health care issues affecting West Virginia, a state that is reeling from the opioid epidemic. Nancy Pelosi of California unveiled this summer endorses a crackdown on monopoly power, a $15 minimum wage and a balanced trade agenda that recognizes the harm to workers caused by corporate trade deals that Democratic leaders have long supported. But with six senators co-sponsoring the "Medicare for All" bill, fringe policies have been brought successfully into the Democratic fold. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who is considered a rising star in the party, emerged as the bill's first co-sponsor. Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, and Warren are all rumored to be plotting presidential runs in 2020. But despite this rising support for single-payer health care, dozens of Democrats have yet to voice support for Sanders' legislation. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare-for-all" bill, which would allow every American to enroll in the single-payer insurance program.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told Bloomberg that he was open to exploring a single-payer health insurance program. The most surprising Democrat endorsement of single-payer came from Max Baucus, former Montana Senator and key player in getting Obamacare through Congress. Baucus was a vocal opponent of single-payer during the 2009/2010 Obamacare debate. "And I think that's something that we all embrace". The last thing any of them want is to see another candidate get to their left on this, so each of them are quick to go on-record - much quicker than their not-eyeing-2020 colleagues who can afford to be more judicious and deliberate. This week, Senator Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and other Senate Democrats plan to offer their solution: a complete Washington takeover of America's health care system.